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The number of patients turning up in casualty has soared by more than a third in the past decade and there is concern many departments will reach breaking point this winter.

This increase is partly down to the ageing population but has also been blamed on failings of GP out-of-hours services, leaving patients with nowhere else to go.

Dr Taj Hassan, vice president of the College and an A&E consultant at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said: ‘There is no doubt that the work that both senior doctors and nurses are having to do is unsustainable. We need significant changes to occur.

‘Some departments, it would be reasonable to say, are at times unsafe. That causes stresses for the whole system.

'Unsustainable': Almost all staff said they had to work overtime to keep the rota going (picture posed by models)

‘A failure to address these issues will compromise this ability and also further worsen the present workforce crisis affecting emergency departments.’ Last week figures from NHS England – the body which runs the health service – showed that the number of A&E departments missing waiting time targets had almost trebled in a year.

Between July and September, 39 departments failed to ensure that at least 95 per cent of patients waited no more than four hours before being discharged or admitted to a ward.

But during the same period the previous year only 14 units missed this target.

The increasing pressure in A&E departments has meant fewer junior doctors are choosing to specialise there.

Danger: The situation could put patients at risk

The College’s report also warned that increasing numbers of senior A&E consultants are moving abroad because conditions in the NHS are so stressful.

This year 21 doctors who are members of the College had emigrated, up from just two in 2009.

Some doctors have called for their contracts to be changed to make the job more attractive with higher rates of pay at evenings and weekends.

But such suggestions have prompted fury among patient groups and campaigners who believe the profession is already paid enough.

Dr Paul Flynn, chairman of the British Medical Association’s Consultants Committee, said: ‘Consultants working in emergency medicine face some of the most challenging, high pressured and stressful work environments in the NHS, often with limited resources and gruelling workloads.

‘The result has been fewer doctors choosing to go into emergency medicine and others leaving to work abroad, meaning existing consultants are working flat out to meet rising demand.

‘We urgently need to look at how we can make working practices in emergency medicine safe and sustainable to address this recruitment and retention crisis.’